At its 20th anniversary meeting in Miami on Monday, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics released the results of a survey of university presidents indicating the rising costs of college athletics need to be curtailed.

More than 80 percent of Division 1A (known as Football Bowl Subdivision) school presidents participated in the survey. Of those, 85 percent believe salaries for football and basketball coaches are excessive, and a majority believe even those on their own campuses are overpaid.

Costs of athletics have risen three to four times faster than those for academics. While a majority of the presidents believe serious reform needs to occur there was little consensus on how to make that happen. Read the report here. Read the AP’s account of the meeting here.

With the research in hand, the commission plans to issue a report next year detailing how to approach reform.

The Commission also unveiled a new feature, College Sports 101, on its Web site today that examines the money in college sports, including revenues and expenditures. College Sports 101 can be found here.

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The 2009 Gators cereal, which hits stores across Florida today, features UF coach Urban Meyer holding up the 2008 National Championship trophy from his team’s victory in the BCS national championship game at Dolphin Stadium in January.

The box of frosted corn flakes is the sixth in the limited edition series produced in a partnership between Florida’s Dairy Farmers and Gator Sports Marketing, which handles UF’s sponsorship and advertising. The cereal is distributed by Deerfield Beach-based Triton Innovative Marketing. (UF is among a number of college and pro teams with special edition cereals. Read the piece I wrote about the program in December here).

As part of this year’s release, the Dairy Farmers have also launched a contest to win a refrigerator and a year’s a supply of milk. (That’s 52 coupons good for a gallon of milk each week, in case you were wondering). Entrants must be at least 18 and explain why they want a new fridge and milk. Enter the contest until Dec. 15 – one entry per person per day -- at Floridamilk.com.

More than 20,000 of the boxes go on sale today at Winn Dixie, Albertsons, Sweetbay and at Gatorzone.com.

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Tennessee Volunteers Coach Lane Kiffin thinks so. The Vols have purchased a billboard on I-95 at Oakland Park Boulevard heading into Fort Lauderdale for the school’s “It’s Time” message. The billboard is going up this week and will stay through Labor Day as the Volunteers look seek out deep high school football talent for their roster.

"We wanted to make an effort to extend our brand beyond the Tennessee geography," Chris Fuller, associate athletic director for sales and marketing, told the Palm Beach Post. "We obviously recognize the value of Florida as it relates to growing and building our program. We just wanted to let people know we're here."

The billboard includes photos of Kiffin and defensive back Eric Berry. The program has also reportedly bought billboards in Atlanta and Memphis.

Rutgers bought billboard ads in South Florida a few years ago.

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It’s too early to say if the name of the Hurricanes’ basketball arena, BankUnited Center, will change in the wake of the government seizure and new ownership of BankUnited.

The bank – the largest headquartered in Florida – signed a 10-year agreement to put its name on the Coral Gables arena in November 2005. So the bank has a contract and a bank spokeswoman said Friday that it’s “business as usual.”

It’s possible the contract will be honored and the name will remain, particularly since the bank is to continue being called BankUnited.

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Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com scored a victory this week when a federal judge in Minneapolis ruled CBS Interactive does not have to pay to use NFL players’ names and statistics in its fantasy football games.

U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said in her April 28 ruling the names and stats are protected by the First Amendment. Her ruling follows an earlier federal appeals court decision that said baseball players’ names and stats are in the public domain. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear that case. Montgomery said the ruling applies to football as well.

“The court declines to indulge in a philosophical debate about whether the public is more fascinated with baseball or football,” Montgomery wrote in her ruling.

“CBS is pleased that the court confirmed the use of player names, statistics and other materials in CBS’ online fantasy games is protected under the First Amendment,” CBSSports.com’s General Manager Jason Kint said in a statement. “CBSSports.com, along with the rest of the fantasy sports industry, looks forward to continuing to provide the fun and excitement of fantasy sports.”

The baseball case began in 2005, when a fantasy baseball game provider sued Major League Baseball seeking the right to use player statistics without a license. The district ruled the First Amendment applied to the information. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

CBSSports.com took the ruling in the baseball case to apply across sports, and even added college players’ names to its college fantasy football game. When its agreement to pay for the use of NFL players stats expired in February 2008, the company declined to renew.

The players’ union threatened to sue, but CBS struck first, filing suit against the NFL Players Association Sept. 3 in Minnesota, where the baseball case had been decided. Players Inc., the marketing arm of the players union, counter-sued Sept. 9 in Florida, where CBSSports.com is based. The Florida case was stayed until a decision could be made in Minnesota.

“We are evaluating the decision now and we haven’t determined what our next steps are going to be,” Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney representing the players, said Thursday.

The union clearly thought a different district court might rule differently and chose Florida because of where CBSSports.com is based.

Where the sports leagues and their players unions have supported the notion the players’ identities require licensing, the fantasy sports providers have lined up squarely against the need to pay licensing fees. Those providers have to be rejoicing: the fantasy sports industry counts some 27 million players in the United States, who spend an estimated $800 million annually on magazines, draft boards and Web site game subscriptions.

“This victory further cements the autonomy of fantasy sports operators from sports leagues and player unions,” newly-elected Fantasy Sports Trade Association President Paul Charchian said in a statement. “The ruling ensures that the industry’s hundreds of fantasy companies will continue creating wide ranging products to serve the needs of fantasy players."

According to an FSTA release, Charchian and Glenn Colton, a New York lawyer who filed friend of the court briefs on behalf of the FSTA in the baseball case, both said they hoped the fantasy sports industry and leagues and players' associations could work together.

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Michigan State and North Carolina will close out the 2009 NCAA tournament with the title game in Detroit tonight. But the question remains, will South Florida host a portion of the tournament again?

Despite crowds that barely broke 10,000 at 20,000-seat AmericanAirlines Arena for the March 20 and 22 first and second round games last month, South Florida officials hope to bring men’s college basketball tournament games back. Bid specifications for the first and second rounds and regionals for 2011, 2012 and 2013 are to go out shortly, NCAA officials say.

“Most certainly,” Pete Garcia, athletic director at host school FIU, said of bidding again, “because it’s not just good only for FIU, but it’s good for the entire basketball community in South Florida.”

But it wasn’t lost on the hosts that the colleges assigned to AmericanAirlines Arena held scant attraction for South Floridians, who aren’t hugely supportive of college basketball to begin with.

“You worry about the things you control, what we couldn’t control was the matchups,” Garcia said. “We did the best with the teams that got awarded to us, it’s nobody’s fault. Team like Florida didn’t get to the NCAA tournament.”

Mike Sophia, executive director of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, said he was disappointed with ticket sales, but understood the matchups weren’t a draw.

“This year, we had first and second round and you wound up with the eight teams that may or may not sort of fit,” Sophia said. “I think Syracuse was an interesting team for us, a Big East team for us, but the rest of the group, was certainly strange.”

South Florida also lost out on the destination factor with two teams from warm weather Arizona.

“I just think now, we’ve got to look at it and I think they [the NCAA] should look at trying to make sure all the sites have some sort of geographical or national attractiveness to the teams that are playing at each site,” Sophia said.

As a result, Sophia said the host group will look at whether to apply for first and second round games (like those it hosted last month) or a regional (Sweet 16 and Elite 8), or both.

Jeanne Boyd, NCAA director of Division I Men’s Basketball, praised the hosting of the games at AmericanAirlines Arena and said a host of factors are considered for hosting in the future.

“They’ve done a very good job, the building has been very responsive,” she said.

Boyd said a thorough evaluation of everything from the experience at the arena to hotels will be taken into consideration, as well feedback from the hosts, the schools and others.

Meanwhile, the World Baseball Classic second round games at Dolphin Stadium last month didn’t draw as well as hosts had hoped – in part because the Netherlands were among the four teams, rather than the Dominican Republic. But officials were pleased with the turnout and are planning to bid for games in the next WBC in 2013, perhaps even the Finals. The Marlins hope to be hosting games in a new ballpark in Little Havana, scheduled to open in 2012.

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The Heat takes on the Charlotte Bobcats at 7 tonight, but the Heat dancers have already beaten the Charlotte Lady Cats in the NBA’s fourth annual NBA.com Dance Team Bracket Competition.

That means the three-time dance competition champion Heat dancers are in the championship round against the Houston Rockets Power Dancers.

Heat President Pat Riley allowed the dancers to use his trademarked “three-peat” term in their quest to win the dance competition last year. They wore “Three-peat” T-shirts and sent out email blasts reminding fans to vote for them. Riley trade-marked the term in 1988 when his L.A. Lakers were attempting to win their third straight NBA title. But the Detroit Pistons swept the Lakers in the 1989 Finals.

Fans can vote for the dance team they want crowned until 2 p.m. Monday online here.

Meanwhile, Dunkin’ Donuts’ bracket is down to its “Fabulous Four” today:

It’s No. 1 Glazed; No. 3 Boston Kreme; No. 5 Chocolate Glazed; and No. 10 Coconut (talk about an upset).

The Florida State Donut Champion will be crowned Tuesday. Doughnut fans can lobby franchisees to vote for their favorite via Facebook and Twitter.

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Even with layoffs and fewer people in offices these days, NCAA Tournament bracket pools are thriving and the tournament is still a big draw online.

According to Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com, which first launched its March Madness on Demand streaming video online in 2003, traffic was up 60 percent from 2008 during the first four days of the tournament. The company, which made the product free and advertising-supported in 2006 and registration-free last year, 5.6 million unique visitors logged into the video player and users have watched and listened to 6.5 million hours of video and audio – a 71 percent increase from 2008.

Even the “boss button,” which allows office workers to quickly call up a spreadsheet so their bosses don’t know they’re watching the tournament, was clicked 2.5 million times during the tournament's first four days -- that's the same number that clicked the boss button during the entire tournament last year.

The product, which now includes an HD version of the video player, is available across a variety of other Web sites, including YouTube, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, MySpace and Facebook. And advertisers continue to support it in large numbers. Ad revenues in 2006 were about $4 million and rose to $23 million in 2008. CBSSport.com expects those figures to rise more than 30 percent this year.

Meanwhile, bracket fun continues. Dunkin’ Donuts announced its ExtraOrdinary Eight donuts this week:

(1) Glazed vs. (9) Jelly
(2) Old Fashioned vs. (10) Coconut
(3) Boston Kreme vs. (11) Blueberry
(13) Strawberry Frosted vs. (5) Chocolate Glazed – Can “The Straw” stir C-Glaze’s drink?

Want to follow the Facebook discussion on this? Find it here.

Those of you who know me well, know I have a giant sweet tooth, but doughnuts just aren’t my thing. However, I’m still stunned that Jelly beat Powdered in the first round. Anyone else with me on this?

And finally, thanks to Toby Srebnik, who came up with Dunkin’s Sweet 16, for pointing me in the direction of another gustatory bracket at Washingtonian.com – this one pits burger joints.

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Dunkin' donuts is bringing a goofy new meaning to Sweet 16.

With Miami hosting NCAA Tournament first-round games today and Sunday, the doughnut chain dreamed up a sticky alternative bracket, pitting 16 varieties of its signature baked goods. Among the matchups: No. 3 Boston Kreme vs. No. 14 Baravian Kreme dubbed "A classic, U.S. city vs. German State." No. 8 Powdered vs. No. 9 Jelly is "shaping up to be a battle of the ages," according to a press release.

Dunkin' paired some unusual choices, including No. 6 Chocolate Frosted vs. No. 11 Blueberry. The mismatch of No. 1 to No. 16 is Glazed vs. Guava. Guava was included for demographic purposes, naturally.

Winners will be decided by the votes of 15 Dunkin' store owners across Florida. Voting runs through Sunday for the Sweet 16; March 25-27 for the “Extraordinary Eight,” and April 1-3 for the “Fabulous Four.” The "Florida State Donut Champion" will be announced April 7.

Facebook and Twitter users are encouraged to influence the votes by expressing their support for their favorite doughnuts. Just don't lick your fingers.

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Just in time for Super Bowl XLIII, the University of Miami is offering women’s basketball fans a chance to win a 42-inch plasma television, complete with mounting hardware and installation.

Two TVs will be awarded at halftime of the UM women’s basketball game against Wake Forest at 2 p.m. Sunday at BankUnited Center. All fans will have a chance to fill out an entry form when they arrive at the arena.

Meanwhile, WQAM (560-AM) is offering a “Lucky Charms promotion” that includes the best 100 remaining seats at BankUnited Center for Wednesday’s men’s game against Wake Forest for $56 instead of the usual $75. The promotion gets better if the ‘Canes beat the Demon Deacons. If that happens, you’ll receive a free ticket to the Canes game against Boston College on Feb. 21. Then, if the ‘Canes beat Boston College, that scores you a free ticket to the team’s final home game against NC State on March 7. And there’s more: if the Canes win their final four home games, you’ll get a free season ticket next year. For more information, call 1-800-GO-CANES and mention the “Lucky Charms promotion” or email: canestix@miami.edu.

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FedEx isn’t advertising during Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, but the express shipping company got nearly four hours of television exposure during this month’s FedEx-sponsored Orange Bowl and BCS national championship games at Dolphin Stadium.

That’s exposure valued at $383 million measured against television ad rates during the games – with the value during the BCS game being higher than the Orange Bowl game, naturally. According to Joyce Julius, which measures sponsor exposure, that value was calculated this way: $256 million from the BCS game in which Florida beat Oklahoma, and $126.8 million from the Orange Bowl game in which Virginia Tech beat Cincinnati. Joyce Julius reported FedEx got 51 mentions and an hour and 59 minutes of screen time during the BCS game and 59 mentions and an hour and 56 minutes during the Orange Bowl game.

Two other BCS bowl game sponsors scored higher values than FedEx did for the Orange Bowl game during their traditional bowl games this year. Tostitos received 43 mentions and an hour and 58 minutes of screen time during the Fiesta Bowl for a value of $138 million; Allstate received 45 mentions and an hour and 51 minutes during the Sugar Bowl for a value of $131 million. Citi, meanwhile, got 25 mentions and an hour and 21 minutes airtime during the Rose Bowl for a value of $111.4 million, Joyce Julius reported.

The Michigan firm's research shows other companies that received significant exposure time during the BCS game included Nike with a value of $61 million and Southwest Airlines with a value of $31.3 million.

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While Orange Bowl Committee members are pulling double duty, serving as ambassadors for tonight’s 75th annual FedEx Orange Bowl and next Thursday’s BCS National Championship Game, some people – and places -- are doing triple duty.

The Dolphin Stadium grounds crew, for example, is preparing for three big games – now that the Dolphins have made the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 season – two bowl games with an NFL playoff game in the middle. That hasn't happened since the BCS added a fifth game to the rotation three years ago.

As soon as tonight’s game between Cincinnati and Virginia Tech is completed, workers will begin cutting out the logos at the center of the field and the endzones for new pieces of sod that will then be painted with Dolphins and NFL playoffs logos in advance of Sunday’s 1 p.m. Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens game. After Sunday’s game, the same process – which takes up to 12 hours – will occur again in advance of the BCS game featuring Florida and Oklahoma.

Stadium President Bruce Schulze calls hosting the three games “pleasant challenges.” After all, the stadium had some practice this fall hosting the UM Hurricanes for their first season since moving from the Orange Bowl.

“We got so good at doing it during the Dolphins and UM seasons,” Schulze said.

Meanwhile, the Marriott Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale is the host hotel for the Orange Bowl and BCS games and it will also play host to the Ravens.

Tourism officials are hoping Ravens fans will join the visitors here this week for the bowl games.

“Baltimore has a great reputation for traveling with their teams,” Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau President Nicki Grossman said.

The CVB has been promoting the region in Cincinnati, Virginia and Oklahoma, she said.

The three games have also provided an active secondary market for tickets. Tickets to the Orange Bowl are still listed for re-sale, although not for as little as $6 as some were selling for last month.

“There’s definitely a lot of activity down there,” said Scott Roback, vice president of business development for RazorGator, which serves as the official ticket exchange site for the OB and BCS games. But Roback said, the Dolphins game “is not the highest demand playoff ticket. That being said, there’s still a secondary market for tickets.”

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Can’t score tickets to the BCS National Championship game between Florida and Oklahoma on Jan. 8 at Dolphin Stadium, but want something more that just to sit in front of your TV?

Fox is producing a 3-D broadcast of the game that is to be shown live in 80 theaters, which have been equipped with the new technology, in 35 states across the country. Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. and 3ality Digital's 3-D image-capture technology are working with Fox on the production. Tickets are expected to run $18 to $22.

On Dec. 4, 3ality Digital worked with the NFL to broadcast the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers game to invited guests at theaters in three markets – Boston, New York and Los Angeles. Although it wasn’t perfect, it reportedly got generally good reviews. Cinedigm and Turner Sports have reached agreement to broadcast the NBA’s All-Star Saturday night festivities from Phoenix in theaters in 3-D on Feb. 14.

For the BCS game, the closest theater to South Florida scheduled to carry the broadcast is the Rave Port St. Lucie.

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Even with the Gators in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 8, tourism officials were expressing their gratitude Monday for the match-ups in the two bowl games that will be held at Dolphin Stadium in January.

The other three teams are from out of state and their fans are expected to travel. Virginia Tech will face the University of Cincinnati, which has never appeared in a major bowl game, in the FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. The Gators play Oklahoma in the national championship game on Jan. 8.

Tourism officials are predicting that even in this difficult economy, fans will pump as much as $250 million or more into the local economy in hotel rooms, restaurants and other businesses. College football fans have a passion that’s unrivaled, even in tough times, tourism officials say.

Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, told my colleague, tourism reporter Doreen Hemlock, that hosting the title and Sugar Bowl games in January, brought an estimated $350 million to the region, including $200 million from the BCS game, even though it included a local team, Louisiana State University.

And the Sugar Bowl game brought newcomer Hawaii. Romig said Hawaiians typically don’t travel east of Las Vegas, so it wasn’t clear the team’s fans would make the trip to New Orleans. Tourism officials needn’t have worried. The team’s fans chartered planes.

“The spirit of Hawaiians was terrific,” Romig said. “It was good for New Orleans. Having the national spotlight on us was very important.”

Broward is expected to benefit this year because not only is the media headquarters hotel the Marriott Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale, but Virginia Tech and Florida are to stay at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood. Virginia Tech will practice at Nova Southeastern University; Florida at American Heritage in Plantation. Cincinnati and Oklahoma will stay at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach and practice at Barry University.

Meanwhile, last week, tourism officials said they weren’t quite sure what to expect from fans of Big East champion Cincinnati. To hear it from the university, though, the school is expecting a big crowd. The athletics department has been fielding phone calls ever since it was clear the Bearcats were bowl eligible. Those calls picked up after the team became the Big East champion, said Mike Harris, Cincinnati assistant athletic director for sports communications.

The school included $50 bowl credits with the sale of each season ticket that can be applied to the purchase of bowl game tickets. Those credits were also sold individually and by Friday afternoon a total of some 8,600 credits had been purchased, Harris said.

Reggie Philpott, a student employee in Cincinnati’s ticket office, said last week that Bearcats fans were planning vacations around a possible trip to South Florida. “It’s like 18 degrees in Cincinnati,” he said.

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Even with all the economic uncertainty we’re facing – now that we’re officially in a recession -- Orange Bowl Committee officials are still happy to be hosting two bowl games this year: the 75th FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 1 and the BCS National Championship game on Jan. 8.

Corporations and fans are belt-tightening, of course, but that’s why hosting the national championship game this year – and the extra bowl game – is good news, said Orange Bowl Committee CEO Eric Poms.

“You feel it with the corporate community, you certainly pay attention to the ability of fans to travel, but fortunately the BCS has great significance. So hopefully the universities the first week build a lot of excitement and have that opportunity to play in the 75th FedEx Orange Bowl," Poms said. "And the next week, when you have the national championship at stake we expect there won’t be enough inventory of tickets and sponsorships and suites.”

A bit of an unknown is Cincinnati, which is expected to face the ACC champion (Boston College or Virginia Tech) in the Orange Bowl game, but chances are Bearcats fans will relish the trip to see the team in its first major bowl game in warm South Florida.

“We don’t know because it’s a program that joined the Big East a few years ago. We don’t know what the reaction will be,” Poms said. “Our gauge is when programs get in for the first time, there’s an explosion of enthusiasm because it’s a stage they’ve never been on … It’s cold there, so it’s an opportunity.”

Following that game with the national championship game should be good for the tourism industry.

“The hotels, airlines and rental cars and restaurants get double the dose,” Poms said. “I think it’s great visibility for the community.”

"The economy affects every industry in this country, the bowl industry is no different,” Poms said, but he also said the enthusiasm of college football fans is unrivaled. "There's a passion, people went to school there, they're connected to their university. So when it comes to opportunities such as suite sales or hospitality or travel, I think it transcends that decision."

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With college football season underway, so is Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com’s college fantasy football game, which comes with a new option this year: the opportunity to draft players by name, rather than position.

Instead of picking Florida QB, you can actually draft Tim Tebow.

The move has already ruffled those looking to ensure college athletics maintain the amateur label and meant more players of the game.

The NCAA’s bylaws are aimed at preventing the commercial use of players’ likenesses –their names and images – to protect their athletic eligibility.

CBSSports.com has interpreted a court ruling earlier this year that baseball players' names and statistics are in the public domain to also apply to college athletes. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled a fantasy company’s use of baseball players’ names and stats was a right of publicity, but was outweighed by the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

“As the leader in the fantasy sports business, we’re constantly looking for ways to distinguish our service from the competition,” CBSSports.com General Manager Jason Kint said in a statement, adding that he expected the change to increase the game's popularity.

And that’s troubling the NCAA and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. CBSSports.com doesn’t charge for the college game or award prizes, but does sell advertising to support the game. If players’ names make the game more popular, no doubt other fantasy providers will add names.

Will that lead to expansion of college athletes’ names in other merchandise? Will video game manufacturers add in players’ names and likenesses, rather than just Tebow's No. 15? Will jerseys be sold with players' names already on them?

The NCAA, which CBS is paying $6 billion for 11 years to broadcast the Final Four, says it must comply with the court ruling, but board members don’t want to see further erosion of the amateur bylaws.

“We’re monitoring it carefully,” NCAA President Myles Brand said in a conference call this month. “We do know there will be further activity in the fantasy league area. We think what has occurred has been a modest change from the current situation, but one of which we’re greatly concerned and we will look to see what our options are in the future, if there are further developments in the future.”

Rick Karcher, associate professor of law and director of the Center for Law and Sports at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, thinks the NCAA needs to take a firmer approach.

“It’s hard to draw a logical line between the use of names in fantasy leagues and the use of names in video games ... It’s a slippery slope. They’re all commercial uses whether you’re talking about jerseys or trading cards," Karcher said.

“I don’t have a problem with the concept of amateurism. I’m not of the view they need to be compensated or paid, I understand amateurs and I get it, but this is different,” Karcher said. “When you’re talking about a third party outside of the NCAA and its member schools profiting off the athletes, to me it’s the NCAA’s job, if their mission is amateurism, it’s their job to prevent it as much as possible.”

Steve Peretz, an intellectual property lawyer in Miami, disagrees, saying the fantasy decision is isolated.

“The difference in the fantasy league is the player’s name is not being used to endorse a product. It’s being used as part of a gaming activity. It’s not being used to endorse Nike. It’s being used for this derivative purpose," Peretz said. “I don’t see this ruling as changing those sorts of merchandising rights. This decision is not allocating who has a proprietary right. It’s in the public domain … it would diminish proprietary rights, not expand it.”

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Every year for the past half dozen or so, Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has estimated lost worker productivity from time spent paying attention to the NCAA Tournament – watching games, filling out brackets and trash talking. This year’s figure? $1.7 billion.

But the study, some argue, presumes that office workers spend every moment focusing on work and conversation never strays to current events, American Idol, or surfing YouTube to watch videos. My story today looks at companies that have decided to join the March Madness hoopla and allow bracket pools and in some cases, TVs will be tuned to games. Plenty of workers will be checking out CBSSports.com’s March Madness on Demand streaming video of all the games online.

Is your office joing the fun? Or have pools and game watching been banned?

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Southwest Airlines may no longer be a sponsor of the NFL, but it isn’t out of the football business. The low-cost airline, known for its humorous NFL ads, has signed up to be the official airline of the BCS.

The airline’s new ad campaign is to begin airing in January during the BCS bowl games, starting with the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day and including the FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 3. The airline is also sponsoring the Orange Bowl’s halftime show, which is featuring ZZ Top.

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